Smart Home & Building – ecosystems that adapt to their users

On this basis, adaptive systems emerge that automatically regulate lighting, climate or air quality and adapt to occupancy, time of day or individual preferences. High-quality, energy-efficient lighting becomes a key technology here: it influences not only energy consumption but also the wellbeing of users, for instance through circadian lighting concepts that support productivity and health. At the same time, technologies such as UV-C disinfection improve hygiene and safety in sensitive environments. Presence detection and people counting, meanwhile, allow resources to be managed as needed, lower operating costs and reduce the CO₂ footprint.

Technologically, this development rests on capable semiconductor solutions: microcontrollers and processors, connectivity standards such as Wi-Fi, BLE, Zigbee or Matter, and a broad range of sensors for temperature, movement, air quality or flow form the foundation. They are complemented by modern access technologies such as NFC, UWB or 3D-based authentication. Regulatory requirements also push innovation further, for example stricter energy-efficiency rules or the growing electrification of heating systems through heat pumps. One clear trend is the shift of intelligence towards the edge: AI-supported algorithms analyse sensor data in real time and continuously optimise building operation, from predictive maintenance to the autonomous control of complex systems.

While MPUs have traditionally dominated compute-intensive operating systems such as Linux in smart-hub centres, high-performance MCUs are now conquering the edge-AI space for specific sensor nodes. Manufacturers are expanding their portfolios to enable localised intelligence "on device", which minimises latency and strengthens privacy in smart homes through data-protection-compliant processing without a mandatory cloud connection. In the smart building in particular, this architecture allows predictive maintenance and adaptive energy control, because the algorithms run directly on the microcontroller rather than streaming data to the cloud. Standards such as Matter also simplify the interoperable networking of heterogeneous devices, while the hardware works more energy-efficiently thanks to hardware accelerators for machine learning (ML). Looking ahead, we can expect the entire building infrastructure to move towards autonomous, AI-supported systems that do not merely react but anticipate users' needs. This development marks a paradigm shift away from purely connectivity-based solutions towards locally acting systems in building automation that make decisions on their own.

Semiconductor solutions that combine multi-protocol connectivity (Wi-Fi 6/7, BLE 5.4, Zigbee 4.0, Matter over Thread) on a single chip therefore play an ever more important role, increasingly integrating edge-AI functions for local data processing. While established KNX systems continue to form the basis for lighting, blinds, door access and ventilation, Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) is gaining importance thanks to lower cabling costs and simpler installation. Wi-Fi 6/7 with multi-Gbps data rates and BLE 5.4 for battery-powered devices enable cost-effective retrofit solutions, while Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over Data Line (PoDL) score particularly well in safety-critical applications such as surveillance and access control. At the same time, Matter 1.5 is being used as a cross-vendor standard in more and more applications, though established technologies such as Zigbee, with its migration into the sub-GHz range, and Z-Wave Long Range remain relevant for critical applications. For asset tracking in large buildings such as hospitals or shopping malls, solutions such as BLE and UWB come into play, while Li-Fi serves niches as a tap-proof alternative in highly sensitive enterprise environments. The upshot: protocol fragmentation is here to stay, but multi-protocol SoCs with edge AI and zero-trust security make the complexity invisible to end users.

In 2025, according to the Eurostat study "Digitalisation in Europe", more than a third of people in the EU (35%) used generative AI tools.

Alongside classic temperature, light and pressure sensors for capturing ambient conditions, more and more solutions for monitoring air quality are being used. Modern devices use various detection methods to measure CO₂ levels and detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a basis for intelligent indoor-climate control. Advanced optoelectronics such as infrared time-of-flight sensors (IR-ToF) also allow the precise counting of people in a room, so that ventilation and air conditioning can be controlled as needed. Radar solutions are also gaining importance in this context. Both technologies are considerably more effective than the pyroelectric sensors used in the past. Sophisticated smoke sensors based on spectral sensing can recognise the type of smoke, whether it comes from an actual fire or from cooking, and so prevent false alarms in hotel or restaurant kitchens. One fundamental trend here is the development of ultra-low-power sensors that shut down completely when idle with the help of dedicated power-saving ICs and become active only when needed. This contributes significantly to extending battery life in wireless sensors and to building low-maintenance systems.

One fundamental trend here is the use of wide-bandgap semiconductors (WBG) such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), which enable higher switching frequencies, lower losses and more compact designs. In parallel, miniaturisation is advancing through intelligent power modules (IPMs), which combine power semiconductors (such as IGBTs or MOSFETs), driver circuits and protection functions in a single package. This integration allows not only more efficient motor control in washing machines, refrigerators or ventilation systems but also intelligent functions such as load-dependent control, predictive maintenance and seamless networking within the building ecosystem. With the introduction of standards such as "Ki Cordless Kitchen" and inductive power transfer of up to 2.2 kW, the wireless supply of small kitchen appliances is becoming reality, a step that would be hard to imagine without modern WBG components, driver ICs and HMI components. For manufacturers, this means that whoever invests today in integrated, efficient and connected power solutions is ready for the next generations of smart buildings and homes.